The latest "banning" (NYC_SKP) is an interesting lesson on REPUTATION.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

216. Hmmm...no

The rules are posted. We agree on that.

The rules are clear? No, the rules are (I believe) intentionally) vague to give lattitude for various situations.

The rules are not applied or enforced consistently. This is in part due to the nature of the DU3 jury system; in part because the site is policed by humans; and in part because EarlG and Skinner interfere selectively. In the end, it's their house and their rules, but it seems like standards have become a moving target. Thake this thread, of rexample: GD has rules against "disruptive meta", but what is "disruptive" is not defined. So Cyberswede's gravedancing/news of ban hammer thread was allowed to stand; Flying Squirrel's poll on the topic was locked by the mods-- er, hosts--- as OT; my thread asking Earl G to clarify his reasoning was locked; this thread is allowed to stand.

If I were a wagering man, I'd bet a nickel that NYC-SKP will be allowed back conditioned on an apology and a promise to go and sin no more. I agree what he did was wrong, but I don't think it's banworthy, given his otherwise relatively clean record. But that's another point of contention with these rules you call clear: repeat offenders with multiple hides get a time out lasting no more than 90 days once their hide count reduces down below 5, while I've seen posters with otherwise spotless records in front of juries get the ban-hammer (most often from Earl G). So the when the admins (Skinner in particular) are asked about a specific poster or behavior, the person doing the asking is encouraged to alert and vote against that behavior on jurise, and the self-policing aspect of the site is emphasized; however, in a situation like this, a poster with a relatively clean record, but who does get annoying from time to time, makes a really stupid mistake, he's banned. Either the site is self policing or it's not. Let the jury do it's job. If the admins are going to drop ban hammers, they should focus on those who have multiple jury time outs, or those who are chronically going through life with 2-4 hides; or they should emphasize the benefits of ignore and trash thread and let the site police itself as it is allegedly designed; or they should admit that DU3 has become toxic and look at clearer rules or a modification of the current system.

...and yes, I'm in the market for another political discussion site. There are a lot of interesting folks here at DU, but this is just getting stupid.